Is Harveys just a tad over-rated??

[vegster]

I'm just picking up 72 pints of the stuff, so I hope it's not.

Ugh ! hope you keep it well !

 

[Hotchilidog]

In answer to the OP. No, it is not overrated.

 

[Martlet]

I did a sample testing recently at the Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham (a good mate works there). In between the SN beers, he handed me a small glass of an unnamed beer - asked me what I thought of it.
I tasted it and said it was the best of the lot - and I could drink a lot of it if allowed. Bugger, he said, that's Harveys Best! (they were using it as a taste comparator against Whitstable Bay).

Agree it doesn't travel/keep well - but I've had a couple of great pints in London, so it's definitely possible...

 

[Lethargic]

Wow some fine examples of beer snobbery on this thread and to the OP question no its not overrated as many of the comments on this thread have shown that they don't like it and therefore say it is over rates whilst others think its fine.

The wonderful thing about real ale is the choice and variety on offer there really is something for everyone if you are willing to try, I enjoy a pint of Harveys ( I assume we are only referring to best in this context) but I prefer other beers and in Sussex we are absolutely spoilt for choice and long may it last, we should be celebrating the quality of beer produced in our wonderful county. Why do people generalise as well some beers suit times of the year better than others, I love Old but drink it on a hot day in August and it would be awful.

I enjoy Harveys and I love the variety of beer on offer and I intend to drink my way through as many as possible (except mass produced lager) and enjoy as many as possible despite what some might preach.

God bless real ale!

 

[Joe Pineapples]

The mess they serve at the Amex is vile. A well-kept pint of it is passable - nothing to shout about. There are better beers around.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I did a sample testing recently at the Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham (a good mate works there). In between the SN beers, he handed me a small glass of an unnamed beer - asked me what I thought of it.
I tasted it and said it was the best of the lot - and I could drink a lot of it if allowed. Bugger, he said, that's Harveys Best! (they were using it as a taste comparator against Whitstable Bay).

Ha ha. Well played Sir.

 

[mwrpoole]

I do like a nicely chilled bottle of Albion Ale if that helps.

 

[slartibartfast]

Personally I love Harvey's. However, its all a matter of taste. The councillor bloke you refer to is a ....wit himself if he cannot see that preferring one pint over another is purely a matter of opinion and taste - a bit like preferring steak and ale pie to chicken. So, no I dont think its overrated personally - but nobody is RIGHT or WRONG ... There are some fabulous pints that I like equally, sometimes more, sometimes less - and on different days might fancy something else.

Strange that you can have your intelligence called into question over a matter of taste...

 

[father_and_son]

Hang Him!

On a serious note, I understand everyone has different tastes. But London Pride always tastes like watered-down Harveys to me, so I'm always a little surprised when people prefer it.

I also note that your favorites come from a wide variety of different styles. Whereas mine tend to me (more-or-less) bitters made from English hops.

As someone born in the North, much as Pride is like a watered down Harveys, Harveys is like a watered down Boddingtons (pre-Whitbread takeover) or Robinsons. Never been able to get used to "Southern Bitter", just doesn't taste right to me. I'll always chose a decent guest-beer over either of these.

 

[Notters]

As someone born in the North, much as Pride is like a watered down Harveys, Harveys is like a watered down Boddingtons (pre-Whitbread takeover) or Robinsons. Never been able to get used to "Southern Bitter", just doesn't taste right to me. I'll always chose a decent guest-beer over either of these.

Probably my second favourite bitter.

 

[spring hall convert]

When we did the original push for real ale it was supposed to be Harveys and Dark Star Hophead, a lighter and obviously very hoppy brew which IMO would be far more to the taste of the 'lager drinkers who might try an pint of real ale' among our support. Sadly, Dark Star really weren't up for it: already brewing to capacity - a capacity far below that of Harveys, solid local brewery who desperately needed a new outlet and went for it big time. Brilliant to have it, and great to win the argument ('football fans don't drink real ale...erm, I think they do!) but I only ever drink Harveys at the Amex, don't go near it elsewhere unless there is no alternative. Given the performances at the moment I think Dark Star Revelation would be a good idea. We'd all be so pissed we wouldn't notice

I remember there was Hophead for a while. It's a real shame Dark Star weren't up for it, they are a superb little brewery. If I'm honest, their beers were responsible for me really getting into real ale rather than Harveys.

 

[spring hall convert]

I hate this real ale vs craft beer debate, it just seems so pointless.

You're both on the same side. The good guys won, it's very rare to go into a pub now that doesn't have some form of real ale/ craft beer option.

I drink and love both, I don't see one or the other as being fundamnentally right or wrong. Some beers taste better kegged and some taste better casked.

 

[Buckeejit]

Just as the Harveys devotees won't have their favourite ale described as 'over-rated', think that to describe London Pride as 'bland' is wide of the mark... heard respected ale expert Jane Peyton on Radio 4 a while back talking of how she'd spent a few years in the States and really missed English beer...the first pint she was gasping to have on her return to Blighty? Yep - Fullers London Pride

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I hate this real ale vs craft beer debate, it just seems so pointless.

You're both on the same side. The good guys won, it's very rare to go into a pub now that doesn't have some form of real ale/ craft beer option.

I drink and love both, I don't see one or the other as being fundamnentally right or wrong. Some beers taste better kegged and some taste better casked.

This.

 

[Diablo]

Definitely to much talking about it..............Off for an early one after work....

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

It did not used to be that way. It used to be a rarity (certainly in south-west London) so I used to really enjoy it when available. Now ? Meh.

(however the Fullers Brewery Tour is worth going on)

Exactly the same thing happened to my favourite pint, Doom Bar, when Coors took over Sharp's Brewery. It is now much too widely available, and hence standards have slipped. Far too inconsistent.

 

[de la zouch]

Exactly the same thing happened to my favourite pint, Doom Bar, when Coors took over Sharp's Brewery. It is now much too widely available, and hence standards have slipped. Far too inconsistent.

Ok I work in the trade and I need to say you couldn't be further from the truth. The consistency has improved massively and it is more widely available but surely that's a good thing! Wake up....

 

[Questions]

you must look beyond the pale my friend

I do old bean. A nice Porter or a stout, but I do tend to miss out the middle bits. No rights or wrong though really is there ?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Probably my second favourite bitter.

Their Trooper is bloody good.

 

[wigman]

A while back in my local, I got chatting with a local councillor when he began enthusing about the wonders of Harveys as he proudly supped on a pint of the aforementioned local brew. I casually commented that I knew it was verging on sacrilege in these parts, but I personally felt that London Pride was a much nicer pint, to which he responded “If you really think that, you’re a ****-wit”

Taken aback to have my intelligence equated with my ale preferences, I also thought that said councillor was, as (originally) a Londoner, trying just a little too hard to establish his Sussex credentials by proclaiming such fierce allegiance to this local tipple. Don’t get me wrong, there have been rare occasions I’ve had a very decent pint of Harveys but far too often, it doesn’t hit the mark at all and I aint that impressed. Seems it needs to be exceptionally fresh/well kept to be at its best. If I was going to get into real-ale anorak mode, it wouldn’t get near my Top 10 whereas the likes of Timothy Taylor, Proper Job, Seafarers, Adnams Ghost Ship and Dark Star American Pale Ale would be right up there...

So, what do you lot reckon... Harveys, a tad over-rated, or not??

Not worth the £4.20p a pint or whatever it is they charge.